Zoe Saldana on Burning Palms & Her Favorite Jacket (It's Givenchy)

Landon (Disturbia) explores taboo territory in a tone often reminiscent of director David Lynch's Blue Velvet or Mulholland Drive. Burning Palms is structured like a graphic novel; its cast, including Dylan McDermott, Rosamund Pike, Lake Bell, Jamie Chung andZoe Saldana, play out five vignettes skewering various L.A. stereotypes, from residents of Westwood to West Hollywood and tony Santa Monica to Holmby Hills.

In the most serious tale, entitled "Maneater," a shy Sherman Oaks resident (Saldana) is raped in her apartment by a masked intruder. Saldana gives an intense, devastating performance as a deeply disturbed and damaged soul.

"My character, Sara," said Saldana, "is experiencing the most traumatic abuse imaginable and she has a very different way of dealing with it, in terms of seeking vindication. Because of her actions, how she handles the rape, she clearly lets us know that she had a very painful upbringing and was a victim of neglect or other types of abuse. Chris and I felt that she was a woman who hadn't experienced love but only pain, which is why she interpreted his abuse as affection."

We asked Saldana about choosing to take on such risky material, which she shot in the fall of 2008. "I was a fan of Christopher Landon as a writer and I was interested in collaborating with him in his directorial debut," she said. "I read the script and was really taken by it because he was hitting on real subjects. Because they are traumatizing and harsh to deal with, he didn't want to censor or limit his artistic view on it, which to me embodies a true artist who is very honest with himself and respectful of his art. I love working with people like that. Whether the material is dark or not is really people's opinions, not a fact."

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While Landon is a first-time director, Saldana has already, in her young career, worked with two of Hollywood's most successful directors – James Cameron (Avatar) and J.J. Abrams (Star Trek). So just how much did Avatar change her life?

"As an artist, I was able to grow and learn so much with an amazing director and great cast and working with new technology. It's also definitely given me the exposure where it's not a good idea to leave my house looking `not so cute'! It's also given me a better ability to befriend and collaborate with directors, producers, writers and actors that I admire. Star Trek was also a great experience and very successful film that complemented my earlier work. Avatar was like the fabulous icing on the cake."

Saldana's life has also recently changed by becoming engaged to her long-time boyfriend, Keith Britton. Britton is actor, model and CEO of the fashion website, My Fashion Database. Their love of fashion is mutual; Saldana modeled for Calvin Klein's "Nothing to Hide" line last year and has become a favorite of style watchers and fashion police everywhere (last week she was photographed at a pre-Golden Globes event for J. Mendel). Saldana says she has only worked with one stylist, Petra Flannery, for the last four years ("any excuse to find something beautiful to wear").

As for her personal style, Saldana said, "It depends on the time, what I'm doing, my mood and mainly the weather. I like to always keep an open mind about style and not commit myself to one particular look because I like playing with style." Although Saldana loves to mix designers, "I've been such a fan of Givenchy in the past year. Right now I'm wearing this amazing Givenchy jacket that I can't seem to take off."

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No doubt there will be countless red carpet photo ops in Saldana's future, since after the premiere of her new film Colombiana this fall, Saldana begins shooting the sequel to Star Trek and then Avatar 2 and Avatar 3....

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